To many carnivores a plate of liver, or a pie of kidneys, is meat eating at
its best. But it turns out that offal is not meat, at least not according to
Morrisons supermarket.

Its bizarre definition of what is, or is not, meat comes after the supermarket was found to be selling offal from New Zealand, despite its promise to stock fresh meat that was only 100 per cent British.

It is the only one of the major four supermarkets to claim to sell "100 per cent British, 100 per cent of the time", a move that won the backing of the National Farmers Union.

Last month the supermarket it ditched celebrity figures such as Richard Hammond from its adverts and started airing a series of commercials featuring children visiting farms to underline its credentials as a supporter of British agriculture.

Chris Blundell, corporate affairs director, at the time said: “We are different from the other major supermarkets in that we specialise in food – we source and process fresh food ourselves and prepare it freshly in store. We already sell only 100 per cent British fresh pork, lamb and poultry."

However, last week New Zealand lamb's liver and kidneys were on sale at different Morrisons supermarkets in London, Shropshire and Kent.

The supermarket defended the products by pointing out that the Food Standards Agency defined meat as "skeletal muscle with naturally included or attached tissue", a definition which "excludes non-muscle cuts such as liver, kidney, heart". However, this definition is mostly in place to stop unscrupulous sausage or burger makers claiming their products contain "80 per cent meat", when in fact the product is made up of offal or fat.

Jeremy Godfrey, fourth generation butcher in London, said: "Of course offal is meat. All butchers know that, and all shoppers know that. And the European Commission also classifies offal as one of the main categories of meat – red meat, game, poultry and offal. I have certificates all over my walls guaranteeing the safety and quality of the offal I sell.

"Morrisons is clearly splitting hairs."

A spokesman for Morrisons added: "Morrisons stand by the fact that we are the only top four retailers to be 100 per cent British across our fresh beef, pork, poultry and lamb all year round."